Someone who thought Nintendo was the best company in the world would be happy if it was sold to Apple and would rush out to buy an iPad for iMario. This is blind loyalty (silly in itself, but not irritating). Not fanboyism.

So let me ask you this. Disney just recently bought Lucasfilm and has plans to make a 7th Star Wars movie. Now I would consider myself a fan of the series and am not at all interested in the series being resurrected. So because I wouldn't really support a move that financially is great for both companies does that then fall into 'fanboy' column for you?

No, it just means you're not interested in an upcoming film?

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here. There is going to be exceptions to every example/ rule I can come up with here, but that doesn't change the basic fact that a fanboy doesn't have the best interests of the company he/ she is a fanboy of at heart.

To be honest I have not really been trying to make a point. I am just trying to get a feel out how heavily you leaned toward the financial success for the determination. I came in this just to hear you out and hear your thoughts. To me fan, at least in general usage, seems to be simply a grade less severe from what is general considered 'fanboy'. You just seemed to have some specific thoughts on the difference and I was curious.

Most ignorance is vincible ignorance. We don't know because we don't want to know.

Someone who thought Nintendo was the best company in the world would be happy if it was sold to Apple and would rush out to buy an iPad for iMario. This is blind loyalty (silly in itself, but not irritating). Not fanboyism.

So let me ask you this. Disney just recently bought Lucasfilm and has plans to make a 7th Star Wars movie. Now I would consider myself a fan of the series and am not at all interested in the series being resurrected. So because I wouldn't really support a move that financially is great for both companies does that then fall into 'fanboy' column for you?

No, it just means you're not interested in an upcoming film?

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here. There is going to be exceptions to every example/ rule I can come up with here, but that doesn't change the basic fact that a fanboy doesn't have the best interests of the company he/ she is a fanboy of at heart.

To be honest I have not really been trying to make a point. I am just trying to get a feel out how heavily you leaned toward the financial success for the determination. I came in this just to hear you out and hear your thoughts. To me fan, at least in general usage, seems to be simply a grade less severe from what is general considered 'fanboy'. You just seemed to have some specific thoughts on the difference and I was curious.

I don't think financial success is that important to a fan - it's just a nice to have. If Apple acquired Nintendo, Nintendo fans wouldn't be running out on the streets singing praises. They'd just jump on an internet forum, say "that's cool," an move on with their lives - perhaps playing iMario.

Perhaps another way to think of it is that fans are passive consumers. They like a product, they buy it, but they don't feel an overwhelming attachment to the product.

And this isn't a black-and-white, fan-and-fanboy situation. Black is the opposite to white, left is the opposite to right, but a fan is not the opposite to fanboy. Once again, fanboys are not fans.

@WhiteKnight and @jkshaz
I think you're missing the point. I'm not asking why, I'm asking at what point does someone blindly follow a company. People have been saying fanboys blindly follow a company, but they don't describe how. What does somebody have to do to be blindly following a company?

I'm only loyal to Nintendo, but I fully acknowledge the accomplishments of Sony and Microsoft.
I have plenty of bad things to say about Nintendo and plenty of good things to say about the other two.

Frankly, it makes sense to me for people to pick one of the big three and stick with them. It's perfectly reasonable. I don't get how people have the money or time to spend playing every console in each generation. I grew up with Nintendo, I enjoy their games, and I respect them as a company. I have no reason to switch my support to Xbox or Playstation. I have nothing but respect for Sony and Microsoft fans.

@WhiteKnight
Wait, so now you're saying that fans don't have to care about a company's financial success? You said earlier that wanting a company to succeed was a requirement of a fan and was something that separated a fan from a fanboy. I'm confused about your view.

I foresee what you'll do there.
Amiibo: Mario, Lucario (2), Toon Link
-The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is. ~Winston Churchill

@WhiteKnight and @jkshaz
I think you're missing the point. I'm not asking why, I'm asking at what point does someone blindly follow a company. How would you define that?

Yeah I must have glossed over your post earlier. Well to a degree you could probably argue that loyalty to any non-living entity is.......I don't know a bit silly perhaps yet I think most of us are guilty of it at some point. I'm not even sure that gets to your point. It would probably take considerable more brain power than I have.

Most ignorance is vincible ignorance. We don't know because we don't want to know.

Regarding the psychology behind "blind following" of a company: I'd argue it's a defensive mechanism against the feeling of being threatened. It's done by people that cannot accept criticism of themselves and they project that onto something they think they can defend. Could be associated with feelings of inadequacy.
Source: I took a psychology course last year. So I'm basically talking out my a**.

Regarding the psychology behind "blind following" of a company: I'd argue it's a defensive mechanism against the feeling of being threatened. It's done by people that cannot accept criticism of themselves and they project that onto something they think they can defend. Could be associated with feelings of inadequacy.
Source: I took a psychology course last year. So I'm basically talking out my a**.

Lol thats alright most psychologists I've been around are also

Most ignorance is vincible ignorance. We don't know because we don't want to know.

Well, I never hear about 'fanboy' in the academia, so I assume that it is a subjective term. Trying to objectively define a subjective term sounds like a bad idea to me. However, I'll give you my definition...later.

EDIT: Also, WhiteKnight's definition sounds a bit offensive to some people of NintendoLife, in my opinion

Hey guys, just so you know, Waltz won't be responding to any more of your questions.

Tell him that it was fun to talk with him then.
Anyway, I guess this thread has served its purpose. I'll leave it up, though, in case others want to discuss the subject. If not, I might delete it.
Either way, thanks to everyone who contributed.

@WhiteKnight recently said this: "Fanboys are actually anything but fans, but that's a debate for another day."
This has got me thinking: what is a fanboy? If they aren't real fans, then what is a real fan? This thread is here for discussing the topic in a CIVIL way. I don't want any flame wars or trolling, just honest discussion.

Yep. It's really simple.

Fanboys are not fans because they really couldn't give a crap about the company they claim to love. They don't have the company's best interests at heart at all. Let me give you an example: every time I say "Apple should acquire Nintendo," or "Nintendo should develop mobile apps," I invariably get inundated by Nintendo fanboys telling me they would hate that, or even (and this is my favourite) "the day Nintendo is acquired by Apple is the day I give up gaming." It doesn't matter that I've just explained why that would be really good for Nintendo, no, that fanboy wants Nintendo to continue to do what it's doing for the simple reason that that's the way they like it (there are perhaps genuine reasons that Nintendo should not do these things, but I've never seen a fanboy mention one).

A fan wants to see the companies they like be successful, because a successful company means that the people that work at that company have a better quality of life and the company's output is higher quality. A fanboy wants the companies they like behave in a slavish fashion, doting on the fanboy like he's the most important person in the world, and focusing entirely on what that fanboy wants to play and buy, regardless of whather it would bankrupt the company.

Fanboys are just spoiled little children (regardless of age, I'm talking about emotional maturity).

^That is what I think. Although, I would call my self a realistic fan. I will always buy Nintendo products and games, but I am not blind enough to constantly defend them.